A couple of months ago I organised a trip to Regent's Park Open Air Theatre with six of my friends to see To Kill A Mockingbird directed by Timothy Sheader.
The play by Harper Lee is based on the tensions of racial discrimination in a town in Southern American. I must admit the production first caught my eye because Robert Sean Leonard was playing Atticus Finch. As expected, he didn't disappoint and carried the whole production from start to finish portraying Atticus as an incredibly kind and intelligent man who wasn't afraid to stand up for what he believed in. He, as well as Richie Campbell gave outstanding performances; Campbell's Tom Robinson was a broken man who had lost all hope of ever becoming free. After his monologue in the court house I'm sure there wasn't a single person who didn't have a tear in their eye.
The ensemble delivered too and all played several characters as well as narrating the story and were nearly always present on the stage. However, the three children in the cast stood out, particularly Eleanor Worthington-Cox as Scout.
The staging and set design were imaginative as the ensemble were part of the audience before the play started and they drew the map of the town out with chalk on the stage as it began. The stage was subtle - only a tree being present for the duration of the play - with props coming in and out.
This was a very exciting adaptation of Harper Lee's play. The drama was suspenseful with many highs and lows and it is something I'm glad I didn't miss.
Georgia Goody-Miceli
Georgia Goody-Miceli
5*
